The Ledger
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Raz: Lonely Planet was valued at $250 million at its peak
“By the way, at its height, the company was valued at a quarter of a billion dollars.”
Tony Wheeler: Lonely Planet sold 100,000 copies of its India guidebook
“Suddenly we had this book that was over 700 pages, and it sold for, you know, double figures. It was 12 dollars or 14 dollars or something instead of three or four, and it just sold, it sold, we sold a 100,000 copies of it.”
Lonely Planet needed Tony to exist, but Maureen to hold it together
“Lonely Planet could never have existed without Tony, but it probably wouldn't have held together as long without me.”
Wheeler: Lonely Planet grew through slow compounding momentum, not instant hypergrowth
“It wasn't like your .com or, you know, social media set up these days. They start on one day, and a week later they're worth a billion dollars. That wasn't us at all. We, our business grew very slowly, and I think it was more like the snowball rolling downhill…”
Maureen Wheeler: Digital investments and 9/11 halted Lonely Planet's profitability
“We had television going, we had started investing heavily into the digital side of things, a lot of staff, a lot of, you know, we created a whole lot of desktop publishing before it was even a term. And it was eating away all of the money. The books were still…”
Lonely Planet's India guide sold 100,000 copies at $12 to $14
“And, ah, suddenly we had this book that was over 700 pages, and it sold for, you know, double figures. It was 12 dollars or 14 dollars or something instead of three or four, and it just sold, it sold, we sold a 100,000 copies of it.”
Lonely Planet's early success rode baby boomer travel trends
“We came along when the baby boomers were suddenly deciding they needed to go to more interesting places than their parents did. So there was that element. They were a big market.”
The first Lonely Planet guidebook was 96 pages and cost $1.80
“It sold for, it was 96 pages. It sold for one dollar 80.”
A Singapore bookshop bought 1,000 copies of Lonely Planet's second guide
“I saw him writing Southeast Asia on a shoestring in the, on the order form, and then write some number down. And he spun the order around and pushed it across the desk to me, and he bought a thousand copies. You know, I walked out of that that office you know,…”
Tony Wheeler: Neither child wanted to take over Lonely Planet
“It wasn't going to be a dynasty. We weren't going to hand it on to our kids. Our kids had both worked in the company at one stage, but Neither of them were going to take it over from us.”
Tony Wheeler: Lonely Planet doubled in size overnight after India book
“The company doubled its size overnight, and we suddenly started taking on more writers and looking at other big projects.”
Lonely Planet: Singapore bookshop buyer ordered 1,000 copies of second guidebook
“I saw him writing Southeast Asia on a shoestring in the, on the order form, and then write some number down. And he spun the order around and pushed it across the desk to me, and he bought a thousand copies.”
Tony Wheeler: Lonely Planet was named after a misheard Joe Cocker lyric
“That movie and that, that album is Joe Cocker singing a song called Space Captain, and the first line of the song goes, once while traveling across the sky, this lonely planet caught my eye. And I said to Maureen, I was humming the song, hey, that sounds nice,…”
Lonely Planet founders left London for Asia with only 400 pounds
“See, we had so little money. We left London with 400 pounds, so that was our money.”
Tony Wheeler: Lonely Planet's first book was 96 pages and cost $1.80
“It sold for, it was 96 pages, it sold for one dollar 80.”
Tony Wheeler: Lonely Planet Originated from Daily Travel Cost and Mileage Logs
“Oh, just where we stayed, and what it cost, and how many miles the car had covered that day, and, you know, now I think about the palaces, and the walls, and the fortresses, you know, those things are just as important, but in those days it was very much the i…”
Lonely Planet survived its first year entirely on Maureen Wheeler's salary
“But the first year, though, of Lonely Planet in, in Melbourne, you had a full-time job, and, you know, we were living on your, Maureen's salary while I worked on the books.”
Lonely Planet was named after misheard Joe Cocker lyrics
“One of the songs in that, that That movie and that, that album is Joe Cocker singing a song called Space Captain, and the first line of the song goes, once while traveling across the sky, this lonely planet caught my eye. And I said to Maureen, I was humming t…”
The Wheelers sold Lonely Planet because their children declined to inherit it
“It wasn't going to be a dynasty. We weren't going to hand it on to our kids. Our kids had both worked in the company at one stage, but Neither of them were going to take it over from us.”
Staff pitched Maureen first because Tony had a five-second attention span
“At Lonely Planet, people always knew first of all, you come and talk to me about an idea, and I'll tell you where it's worth. Tony has what's, what's called the five second, you've got a 5:02 window to engage his attention.”
Lonely Planet faced near-collapse and severe cutbacks after 9/11
“We did have to let people go. We did have to cut back on our offices overseas. We did have to cut back the number of books we did, and it was looking, I honestly did believe that it was possible the whole thing could just disappear.”